Wilderness Study Areas

Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) are undeveloped federal lands that retain their primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, and are managed to preserve their natural conditions.

Wilderness Study Areas are not included in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless and until the United States Congress passes wilderness legislation designating the WSA as wilderness.

BLM Wyoming manages 42 WSAs encompassing 577,504 acres of public land. In its report to Congress in 1992, BLM Wyoming recommended that 240,364 acres within 21 study areas should be designated as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Also in the 1992 report, BLM Wyoming recommended that 337,140 acres within 30 study areas should be released for uses other than wilderness.